Establish a fund for the tourism industry - Expert

Mr Humphrey Kuma, Director of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry of Tourism has called for the establishment of a tourism fund and the capacity building of all tourism outfits to make the sector vibrant.

“There should also be the briefing of members on current trends in the tourism sector and also the vigorous implementation of all decisions and projects of the Public-Private Partnership Forum (PPPF)”, he added.

Addressing stakeholders in the tourism industry during a forum on Wednesday, he encouraged the leadership of the stakeholders to regularly review the constitution of the PPPF to make way for the necessary changes and also sharpen their ability for fund raising for the activities of the Federation.

Mrs. Juliana Azuma-Mensah, Minister of Tourism called for the establishment of regional and districts chapters of the PPPF to collaborate

with the private and public stakeholders in the industry in line with Forum's decentralization policy.

“I have no doubt that by sustaining our collective commitment in the work of the Forum, the tourism sector would play its right role in wealth creation, poverty reduction and stemming rural-urban migration”, she added.

She commended stakeholders for their numerous assistance to the Forum and pledged the collaboration of her ministry with the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies, District Assemblies and Traditional Authorities to ensure the betterment of the sector.

In an open forum, the members called for more commitment and the rejuvenation of the activities of the Forum.

They also called for more Publicity on their activities and admonished each other not to expect so much from foreign tourists because of the global recession but rather focus on strengthening domestic tourism.

GNA